Wayns opening eyes at Sixers camp

PHILADELPHIA — In successive trips down the floor Friday, Maalik Wayns knocked down a 3-pointer as time on the shot clock expired, then took a pass along the baseline, dribbled once and left his feet before feeding his big man for an easy bucket.

The series elicited a clap of approval from 76ers coach Doug Collins.

Wayns, the undrafted guard out of Villanova, is convinced that all he’s doing in training camp is what his coaches have told him to do: Shoot sparingly, pass confidently, run the offense assuredly, defend tenaciously.

Whatever they’ve said to Wayns, it’s working. He’s drawn encouraging reviews from his coaches, with Collins using the word “terrific” to describe the play of a guy with only a partially guaranteed contract.

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“It’s easy. I keep saying over and over again — that’s my game. I’m a coach’s player,” Wayns said Friday afternoon, following the Sixers’ early session at Saint Joseph’s University. “Whatever coach asks me to do, that’s what I’ll do.”

Last season, for a foundering Villanova squad, Wayns’ coaches asked him to shoot the ball. A lot. His penchant for hoisting shots took Wayns away from his strengths, like playing off the ball or creating points with passes.

“That’s what my team needed me to do last year. We weren’t really successful doing it, but that’s not my game,” Wayns said. “Now I’ll get back to my roots and the way I play and be comfortable and play my game.”

Wayns has brought an up-tempo style to the Sixers’ second-team offense, which has challenged the defensive play of Evan Turner and Jrue Holiday. What’s more, Wayns — who’s been paired with rookie Arnett Moultrie and veteran Royal Ivey — has brought the best out in them, too.

“He’s somebody who’s helping me and the way he’s playing, it’s like he’s supposed to be out here,” said Holiday, the only guy standing in Wayns’ way on the depth chart in the early going. “He listens really well and he’s a really good player. He might be one of those underrated players. He’s definitely going to help our team.”

Added Collins: “One of the reasons why the scrimmages have been so competitive is Maalik, with that second unit, has been terrific.”

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Lavoy Allen was a full participant in the afternoon session, even knocking down a pair of jumpers from the top of the key in a scrimmage — both of which came as a surprise considering how much rest he had gotten in the last 24 hours.

“No sleep,” he said. “Hard to stand up.”

A second-year big man out of Temple, Allen and his girlfriend welcomed a baby boy — the couple’s first child — late Thursday evening. A handful of false alarms were to blame for Allen missing three of the team’s first six training-camp sessions.

Allen didn’t offer the name of his newborn son.

“Can’t release that information until I get paid like Jay-Z and Beyonce, and Angelina and Brad,” Allen said.

But there’s one thing for sure — even if the identity of Allen’s son is not: Collins is happy to have him back, so long as he develops “an ego.”

“(He needs to) get a bigger ego as to how good of a player he can be, and that’s said in a very positive way,” Collins said. “With Lavoy, I want him to get a bigger ego in a good way. He can be a double-double kind of guy.”

NOTES: Thad Young sustained a left ankle sprain in the afternoon session and the team has listed him as day to day. … Andrew Bynum was walking about Hagan Arena toward the end of the Sixers scrimmage. Holiday said his life will become exponentially easier when Bynum returns. “He’s, like, eight feet tall with a nine-foot wingspan,” Holiday said of Bynum. “All I have to do is throw it in the air.” … It took two-and-a-half months, but Moultrie, who suffered a high ankle sprain during pre-draft camps, said he’s finally 100 percent. … The Sixers cancelled today’s morning session and will only partake in an evening scrimmage.